Classic Poem

I walked on the ocean beach,
I saw a beautiful shell;
But 'twas carried beyond my reach,
As the billows rose and fell.

A sun-fish I sought to take,
But the waves rolled strong and high,
And bade me the prize forsake,
And back from the breakers fly.

Then a pebble, round and white,
I sought of the ocean to steal;
But the wave returned, and, far from sight,
Did the stone in its bosom conceal.

'Twas as if it loved its own,
The ocean so vast and drear;
The shell and fish and round white stone
To its mighty heart were dear.

And a stranger sought to bear
Its treasures far, far away;
Where no more they'd shine forever fair,
And bright with the dashing spray.